MetaFilter posts tagged with Turkey and music

From the Ottoman military to the Balkan Roma

sleepy pete — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 10:44:24 -0800

The Mehterhane or Mehter, as they are often known, are thought to be the oldest military marching band in the world. Starting around the 13th century, the band accompanied the Ottoman empire troops (Janissaries, or yeniçeri, roughly meaning "new troops" and were comprised mostly of young men from the Balkans) into battle, spreading their music along the way and influencing western classical composers like Mozart and Beethoven. Mehter also seems to have influenced the style of music and dance known among Serbian Roma as čoček (Macedonian chochek or чочек; Bulgarian kyuchek or kyutchek--кючек). Čoček as a dance is related to the Karşılama ("face-to-face") style of dance. The rhythm of traditional čoček music is 9/16, but has been modified into 4/4 and 7/8 as well. Here are some examples in costume and in the street. The music is brass heavy as played by modern bands like Kocani (or Kochani) Orkestar, Boban Marcovic, Fanfare Ciocarlia, or Goran Bregovic's compositions for movies like Underground and Time of the Gypsies (here's an interesting article on the use of Balkan as a metaphor, utilizing Time of the Gypsies). The music can be stripped down to guitar and flute or violins and clarinet, and has been utilized by American groups like A Hawk and a Hacksaw (featuring Neutral Milk alum Jeremy Barnes on accordion/drums/bell hat). Due to proximity of origin, the music shares some traits with klezmer as well (but that's a whole other research topic). Interestingly, the terms čoček and кючек seemed to have derived from the Ottomans as well. The word köçek (related to küçük meaning "little or small," but, as one very nice language loving mefite pointed out to me, also means "foal [of a camel]" and by most accounts seems a direct antecedent to the Bulgarian term кючек) was used for men and boy dancers dressed as women. There are arguments as to whether the köçekler were seen as sexualized beings (music plays on first link) or just burlesque, but the practice continues into modern times.

Erkin Koray, Turkey's psychedelic minstrel.

flapjax at midnite — Tue, 27 May 2008 06:54:31 -0800

Erkin Koray's long career as a major rock star in his native Turkey has seen him cover all sorts of musical territory. His songs are often a curious (some might say bizarre) hodgepodge of musical influences, and one thing's for sure: you couldn't call the man unadventurous! Here's a sampling of some of his psych-Turk-rock from decades past: Krallar - Gel Bak Ne Söylicem - Cemalim - Allahaşkına - Aşka Inanmıyorum - Yanlizlar rihtimi - Gönül Salıncağı - Anma Arkadaş - Aşk Oyunu - Gün Doğmuyor - There are two MySpace Music pages for Erkin Koray. At this one you can hear snippets (not whole tunes, unfortunately) but I recommend listening to them simply to get a further idea of the breadth of his output. Some great Turkish psychedelia to whet your appetite here. And at this one there are three tunes you can hear in their entirety.

Salih Korkut Peker, strings man from Turkey.

flapjax at midnite — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 05:56:05 -0800

Whether on fretless electric guitar or fretless Turkish banjo, mister Salih Korkut Peker sounds mighty fine. And here he is again on banjo, getting down on some Turkish grooves with percussionist Gencer Savaş. Sweet! [note: see hoverovers for link descriptions] And just for good measure (and, you know, to give the drummer some...), here's percussionist Gencer Savaş again, with three other folks (in funny hats!) in a charming rendition of "Sazendeler". Straight outta Turkey!

Gaida! Gaida! Gaida!

flapjax at midnite — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 07:00:33 -0800

The gaida is a bagpipe from Southeastern Europe. Gaida mp3s? Lots of 'em here. Gaida on the YouTubes? Why, yes. Yes, of course. Certainly. There's a bunch. Really. A lot. And electric ones? Yup. And here's a deflated one. But do any hippies play this thing? And dance to it? Sure! But the real question is: What is the problem with this gaida?